The Clean IT project

The Internet plays a central role in our day to day lives. It has enriched our world in terms of access to knowledge, interaction and mobilisation. Unfortunately, these features also make the internet a crucial tool for terrorist and extremist networks. They use the internet for terrorist purposes such as propaganda, fundraising, recruitment, training and planning.

In 2010, the European Commission called upon EU Member States to submit project proposals to tackle this problem, and to include public-private cooperation in the working method. This prompted the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice to submit the project proposal ‘Clean IT’. The Clean IT project aimed to start a constructive dialogue between governments, businesses and civil society to explore how to reduce the terrorist use of the internet. This dialogue resulted in a set of general principles and an overview of possible best practices.

The Clean IT project came to an end on Wednesday 30 January with a final symposium in Brussels, in the presence of several speakers, participants and interested parties involved. Theo Bot, the Dutch National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security presented the Clean IT final results to Gilles de Kerchove, the EU Counterterrorism Coordinator, on behalf of all project partners. (read more)

Mr. De Kerchove:
“I would like to express my gratitude for all the work you have done and express my full support for your important work. CLEAN IT was an open and transparent consultation process, which not only included government officials and law enforcement officers but also academics and NGO and think-tank representatives. The project helped to provide a better understanding of what has to be done and what is being done in the EU and in cooperation with the private sector. Public-private initiatives, such as CLEAN IT, are essential to guarantee an open society and pluralism and freedom of expression.”

Click here for the final Clean IT report on how to reduce the terrorist use of the internet.

The Clean IT project was carried out with the financial support of the European Commission’s Prevention of and Fight against Crime Programme (Directorate-General Justice, Freedom and Security).